


Words

by ScullyLovesQueequeg



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Complete, Ficlet, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-02
Updated: 2014-01-02
Packaged: 2018-01-07 05:40:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1116178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScullyLovesQueequeg/pseuds/ScullyLovesQueequeg
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mulder is in for a surprise when he makes fun of Scully's beliefs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Words

"Call me an iconoclast, but I can’t possibly believe that God told you anything," She hears from the interrogation room. Her fingers move to trace a couple of stray locks around the back of her ear. Her eyes fall into the black and white sheet before her and she hears him continue, "God is just a kid with an ant farm, watching everyone fuck up.”

His colorful phrase earns a slight chill up her spine and her eyes drift up to the glass; he does not curse often, and the effect that he desires by using the phrase comes into fruition: the person he is addressing starts to tremble, and leans forward on the table, putting his hands on his head.

"God told me this, I swear," The man says, and she glances at the person beside her, Assistant Director Skinner. "I didn’t kill anybody!"

"What do you think, Agent Scully?" Skinner asks without looking at her and keeping his eye on his other agent in the interrogation room. "Should we believe him?"

Scully does not answer right away. She is thinking about the way the word fuck sounds when it comes out of Mulder’s mouth. He’s never said it to her, never in her company, and never within earshot, so it is a liberating experience that colors her cheeks a soft pink and when she answers Skinner, she is a little too late.

"I don’t think Franklin has any reason to lie, the majority of his crimes have all been nonviolent, looking at his rap sheet. It’s my experience that people like him just don’t escalate." She says, her tone indifferent.

"If they’re pushed enough, they can," Mulder says, joining them as he comes out of the interrogation room. He catches his partner’s eye and gives her a small smile, but she glances elsewhere, mentally removing herself from the situation. The same situation that haunt her always: that his boyish charms were compromising her judgement, and that she was falling for him, like an object tossed out of a 10 story window. "Sir, even though people can and do escalate, I’m with Scully on this one; he didn’t do it. But I think he knows who did."

"Very rarely are you two of the same general consensus, and although it seems like the convenient option, to try Mr. Franklin and hold him responsible, I’m going to take your word for it. We’ll hold him here for a while and let him go in the morning. Meanwhile, find the person who did this. The Feds are looking for someone to blame and I still don’t have many offers to give them. Dismissed." Skinner says, and Scully nods. She is the first to go, and Mulder does not follow—not immediately. He catches up to her when she reaches the main lobby of the police station, right by the vending the machine.

"I’m thinking that Franklin, being the nut that he is, has a friend who put these ideas in his already fragile, broken mind. He thinks it’s God but for the first time that I know of, I think it’s a case of a serpent with a lying tongue, feeding him ideas." He says, leaning against the side of the vending machine while she is pretending to look for a snack. She is making a point to avoid what she could only guess is a smug look across his features.

"Okay." She says, lingering on one choice a little too obviously. Mulder glances at the glass and in the reflection, they catch each other’s eyes and she finally looks up at him.

"You really don’t believe in God, huh?" Her voice is small, and almost hurt. She knows she has no right to be, but part of her is a little let down.

"I believe that God is an excuse for people to oppress other people. The idea of a supreme being that’s watching over everyone? Doesn’t that sound like the government already?" His tone is flippant, and it annoys Scully because he believes in everything else.

"You can believe that aliens have crash landed here, or that Bigfoot exists or in vampires and other—other stupidity but you can’t accept the possibility of a supreme being that watches over everyone and maybe even loves us? Why? Because it’s good, and wholesome? Or is it just so hard to believe that maybe someone out there loves you unconditionally despite all your flaws and shortcomings? Is it really so impossible for you to believe that someone out there likes you because you’re Fox Mulder and believe in all this crazy bullshit, and because you’ve got a kind heart and because your goodness is a reflection of your character? Mulder, I respect you. I respect you, I respect your beliefs, your work and that this is something you believe in. I don’t share those beliefs but damn it, I’m trying to help you find proof and give meaning to your work. The very least you can do is have the same respect for me that I do for your beliefs. Maybe I believe that there is a God that wants us to do the right thing, and that loves us and that wants to love you too, Mulder!”

There is a silence between them, and the people in the immediate area are looking at the pair curiously, because they were talking in excited but low tones, but Scully’s tone reaches a conversational point, and she stamps her foot, accenting her final line. She is embarrassed now, because she is half talking about God and half about herself, and she finally selects something from the machine. She retrieves the bag and opens it but the contents seem unexciting, and she has lost her appetite, and so she starts walking for the door, leaving her partner fumbling in her wake. He follows her, after a delayed reaction, and touches her shoulder.

"Scully, I don’t mean to offend you," He says, and his voice is quiet, and tender. She doesn’t want to speak to him but she stops outside and turns to face him. "And I’m sorry that I did, but I can’t accept that you can believe in the existence of a god, of all things. Someone as smart as you…?"

His words do nothing but offend her more and so she turns away and starts leaving, but his hand catches hers and she is surprised that it is soft and warm. She glances at him again, a look of hurt feelings mixed with frustration on her features, and he lets her hand go. She does not leave.

"I’m sorry, Scully. You’re right, I should—I should respect your beliefs, even though they might be absurd. I can’t change mine—I refuse to, but I’ll respect yours as you’ve respected mine." He says, and Scully knows this is the best she is going to get. She feels disappointed and sad, but she pats his arm and murmurs that he is forgiven before she walks to the car that they came in.


End file.
